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Independent Wanda Hines spoke with us over the phone from her house on Oak Street, along the northern edge of Burlington’s Old North End.

She’s currently on leave from her position as director of the city’s Social Equity Investment Project at CEDO (Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office).

Hines’ work is a part of the city’s Legacy Project, which maintains a focus on sustainable communities — including their human resources.

Burlington Free Press: What would you like to see happen at the Pine Street Barge Canal Superfund site?

Wanda Hines: The first thing that I think about is the soil — what can you get away with? I would think the ground is too soft to build on. There must be some way to turn it over so it can be used. But it must be toxic. I really wouldn’t want to see any housing there, that’s for sure.

BFP: How about the “North 40/Urban Reserve” north of the Moran Plant?

WH: Our waterfront is so beautiful. I’d like it to be a multipurpose area of some type. Maybe even part of it could be a revenue source.

BFP: Like a mall?

WH: I’m thinking maybe a little restaurant. A little eatery with a friendly, family environment. Or incubator businesses that are food-related.

BFP: Any changes you envision for the Intervale?

WH: I think we need to keep gardening opportunities there for families. They need to just keep doing what they’re doing down there. They’re already doing a great job. I wouldn’t want to interfere.

BFP: What’s the best thing you can think of to say if you see a neighbor failing to pick up after his or her dog?

WH: You know what I’d do? I’d tell them. When I look out my kitchen window and I see someone somebody come by with their dog and the dog does it, I knock on the window and say “Hey!” — and they say, “I don’t have a bag,” and I go, “Wait a minute” — and I go out and give them one.

I tell them about it. If it’s a neighbor and it’s on my property, I would say, “Excuse me, do you have something to pick that up with?” I wouldn’t say, “How dare you!” You want to be helpful and at the same time educational. You’re going to recognize that person eventually, and have a relationship with them.

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BFP: How about telling someone not to idle a vehicle? (Burlington has an ordinance that forbids idling.)

WH: I say, “Hey, can you turn that off until you’re ready to go?” With a stranger, I present it as an inconvenience: I’m standing there trying to have a conversation. It kills two birds with one stone.

I wouldn’t say, “Hey, you’re burning up the atmosphere.” I would have to read that person. (whispers) “Could you turn that off, I’m trying to have a conversation.” If it looks like someone’s going to get out and plop me with a baseball bat ... I would use tact.

BFP: Burlington’s air quality is borderline good. Is there anything in the short term we can do to improve it? Where would you begin to address that?

WH: I would talk to the Burlington Sustainability Action Team, the Climate Action Team, the Climate Action Plan and of course the Legacy project has a big piece on environmental issues. The city pretty much has those areas covered.

BFP: Personally, what can you do?

WH: I’ve already done that: I quit smoking in October. Well — don’t burn your food — there isn’t much you can do. I think we’re on the right track with no idling; we’re on the right track with Complete Streets — multi-use streets. We’re doing work in those areas.

BFP: Where does Burlington’s drinking water come from?

WH: To be quite honest — I see those big reservoirs around town. The closest one is up at UVM. I know it’s not coming directly from the lake. (Burlington’s drinking water is, in fact, pumped — via a treatment plant — from Lake Champlain.)

BFP: Where does Burlington’s sewage go?

WH: It gets into the lake. Which is sad.

BFP: After rainwater hits your roof, where does it go?

WH: It goes into my yard — which is pretty soft. And some of it makes its way out the front, to the corner. There’s a sewer there.

BFP: You mean a storm drain?

WH: I call it a sewer.

BFP: Do you compost your kitchen scraps?

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WH: No I do not.

BFP: Do you garden?

WH: I do not have a garden, but next year I’m going to. It’s one of the things on my to-do list. I’m going to grow some collard greens. I have a lot of plants in my house, though. I’m an indoor-plant fan.

BFP: What kind of tree grows closest to your driveway?

WH: A pine. A big ol’ pine. One of these days I think it’s going to tip over.

BFP: Does Burlington have a city arborist?

WH: We do.

BFP: What is the closest creek or river to your home that flows into Lake Champlain?

WH: The Winooski River.

BFP: What part of Burlington’s curbside recycling program would you like to change?

WH: I think it’s fine the way it is. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. It’s working for me really well.

BFP: How might we better educate part-time residents (i.e. students) on the details of what can and can’t be recycled?

WH: The way I learned was with the notes. If you mess up and you throw away the wrong thing, they leave a note in there, and you adapt. The remedy is in place. We just have to keep at it. It’s about learned behavior. People are recycling that I never thought I’d ever see recycling. I’m impressed. I think it’s working.

BFP: What specific block of Burlington best typifies the basic precepts of “smart-growth” to you?

WH: I would say along North Avenue (in the New North End). As far as feeling safe to walk around, it’s very well laid out. It’s not hectic. There’s the shopping center, there are homes, there’s sports and athletics nearby; there’s a senior center — there’s even a trailer park.

BFP: What spot in Burlington exemplifies the antithesis of smart-growth?

WH: LaFountain Street. It’s pitch black at night. It doesn’t feel safe. It sets up a scenario: We’re talking about violence against women.

BFP: Do you swim in Lake Champlain?

WH: I have, and I still do.

BFP: Do you fish in the lake?

WH: I used to. I know how to gut, and fish and worm. I ain’t afraid of no fish! I just haven’t had time in the last couple of decades.

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BFP: Do you eat fish from the lake?

WH: I stopped eating fish because of these little worms that popped up in them. It kind of got to be recreational, then I got really turned off about it.

BFP: What kind of insulation do you have in your attic?

WH: I’ve never been up into my attic. But it’s a Land Trust Home, but they re-did the whole thing, so I’m pretty sure it’s up to code.

BFP: How much do you pay a month for heating.

WH: I’m on the budget plan. I pay $175 a month (year-round) to Vermont Gas.

BFP: Your $5 calculator dies. Where should it be tossed, if anywhere?

WH: Well, normally I would toss it in the trash. And if I wanted a new one I’d go to the Dollar Store and get one for a dollar.

But I know that the Chittenden Solid Waste District takes them, so I’d go there to recycle it. Since I’m taking my trash there, I’ve been reading the literature about what to do with everything.

BFP: You take your trash there?

WH: I don’t even have trash removal anymore. I’ve got it down to a science. I’m really good with recycling: I don’t have a trash barrel. I have an office wastebasket that I have in my kitchen — when it gets full I double-tie it up, and then I take the 55-gallon trash bags to Chittenden Solid Waste. It costs me $3.75 a month or six weeks. That’s a lot cheaper than what I was paying before: $75 a month. I’m stingy.

BFP: How can city residents help reduce the growth of blue-green algae in Burlington Bay?

WH: That goes back to pollution. I really don’t know how or what they can do. I would go, again, to the Burlington Sustainability Action Team.

BFP: List as many working (electricity-producing) wind turbines you’ve seen in Burlington.

WH: I haven’t seen any. Then again, I don’t get out much. I know they’re out there. (The Free Press counted two at the waterfront, one apiece at Burlington Electric Department and at University of Vermont; one at The Spot Restaurant. Know of any others? Send a note to reporter Joel Banner Baird.)

BFP: Typically (say, in the last five years or so) how warm does Lake Champlain get?

WH: I don’t know.

BFP: How would you find out?

WH: I’d go read the newspaper or look it up online. But then again, the way I think about temperature if I’m going swimming is, “Can you get in? Is it cold?” I rarely look up the temperature of the water. (National Weather Service: July and August temperatures have hovered between 65 and 70 degrees for the past decade.)

BFP: What questions would you like answered about Burlington’s environment?

WH: What’s going on with the climate? Where’s our snow? This is Vermont!

BFP: What is the most common bird in your neighborhood?

WH: The one that squeaks all the time: the little wrens.

BFP: What’s the most common car in your neighborhood?

WH: Trucks, a lot of Chevys: big American vehicles.

BFP: Do you believe that human activity over the past 200 years has affected the world’s climate?

WH: Yes. Definitely. I’m not going to pull a Sarah Palin on this one. We’re so wasteful. We’ve abused. We’ve been abusive. We’re in the midst of the repercussions right now.

BFP: Suppose I’m a sales rep for a global firm that is trying to convince you that Burlington would be an ideal place to install a small nuclear reactor. How would you suggest that I prepare for a presentation of my plan to the public at Contois Auditorium?

WH: I don’t think I’d even want to have a conversation with you. But I’d tell you to do your best, here’s your opportunity. Personally, I have no interest in having a nuclear plant anywhere near my city. But this is about public process, and you’re entitled to it, so ...

BFP: Is the Moran plant an environmental issue? How so, or why not?

WH: I do not believe it’s an environmental issue. It’s bricks and mortar there.